BAI MING, AESTHETIC INFLUENCE, NANCY KRAMER-BOVEE, KRISTIN KOWALSKI

MARCH 11- APRIL 21, 2016

BAI MING Chinese contemporary artist in the field of ceramics, oil painting, ink, in an eclectic style which alternates geometrical compositions and gestural practices. Bai Ming’s paintings and ceramics are presented at KCAC as part of the 50th anniversary of NCECA.

AESTHETIC INFLUENCE: THE ART OF CHINESE SCHOLAR ROCKS The artists are Virginia Pfau-Thompson from Arizona, Richard Hirsch from New York, Howard Koerth from Oklahoma, Chang Ching-Yuan from Taiwan, and Keith Ekstam from Missouri. Many of the ideas surrounding Chinese Scholar’s Rocks are explored by this group of artists. This includes concerns such as references to utopian existence, a search for paradise in a less-than-perfect-world, geologic imagery, and utilizing the requisite Scholar’s Rock base or plinth as a stage for visual activity. Largely made of clay, the work by this distinct group of artists also employs glass, plastic, wood and found objects as needed.

NANCY KRAMER-BOVEE uses images from nature, artist predecessors, quilting, and design. After sketching and template creation, tiles are rolled out, cut and hand shaped before drying. Terra Sigillata is applied and clear glazes to accent. After firing tiles are mounted on a frame to unite and lift them off the wall so that light can illuminate the negative spaces.

KRISTIN KOWALSKI wants to create a feeling of intimacy between the interaction of abstracted forms. Those experiences lead to a floral or blossom element that represents the peak of the experience. She wants the work to be very sensual, playful and slightly dark, and intends to create these feeling with the combination of form, color and surface texture. The floral elements in the work have been inspired from Kowalski’s garden; she is inspired by the process and transformation that occurs in nature.